Adventures of a StarCraft 2 Noob

ISTL Season 2 Final Four Wrapup: 3rd Place Match - Team Impulse...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:57:33 -0400

ISTL Season 2 Final Four Wrapup: 3rd Place Match - Team Impulse vs. Team NrG; Grand Final: Western Wolves vs. Team My Intent

ISTL Season 2 Semi-Finals Wrapup: Team iMpulse vs. Team My...

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 22:38:16 -0400

ISTL Season 2 Semi-Finals Wrapup: Team iMpulse vs. Team My Intent

Third place match is July 11th at 8p EST, grand finals are July 12th at 8p EST at http://twitch.tv/impulse. Don’t miss it!

Relaunch: Observer eSports!

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:42:04 -0400

Hey guys, remember that Observer Casting thing? Well, it’s a bit different now.

Presenting: OBSERVER ESPORTS!

What’s this mean? Allow me to explain.

The initial vision of Observer Casting was to create a community for aspiring eSports casters. However, I quickly discovered that while there aren’t exactly a million casters out there, there are a ton of people working on the indie side of eSports trying to promote the industry.

Tournaments, leagues, showmatches, competitions, you name it. There’s a vast amount of people out there trying to put their mark on eSports, and that’s where we come in.

So, now for me to explain what this changes.

1.) The community remains as it always has. We welcome casters, players, fans, tournament admins, etc. to register and use the site to network with one another and even coordinate toward events. For example, if you want to hold a tournament but need a caster or two (and maybe even some players) we want Observer eSports to be the place to go.

2.) More! One of the things we’re going to start offering is special promotional and media services to growing indie tournaments, leagues and teams. In this case, take the video packages we’re currently producing for the Indie StarCraft Team League. What if you wanted something like that for YOUR fed? Well, for a small fee, that’s where we can assist!

3.) Ultimately: host tournaments, create additional partnerships, sponsor events, and more!

Basically, this will keep with the current formula but allow us to expand into more areas and offer more.

Oh, one small change. The Achievements on the site are going away, temporarily. Gotta work out some memory issues, but no big deal.

Spread the word! http://observer.gkick.net

TELL YOUR FRIENDS - REBLOG, RETWEET, RECYCLE, REUSE.. whatever!

Part 20: Reality Check

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:19:00 -0400

First and foremost, 20th official blog post! Woooo!

Secondly, hope you liked that ISTL Wrap-Up video. Expect the next one after the other semi-final match next week, so hang tight for that.

And now, the post itself.

So, I had my first couple of Platinum league ladder matches when I finally had an opportunity to play and it was a quick reminder of why I don’t belong in Platinum.

First, I was abruptly cheesed by a Protoss opponent who decided to go with a “I’m gonna just dump pylons and cannons in your base” and I didn’t, well, appropriately respond to it. Suffice it to say, it was quick and I learned nothing.

Second game, though, much better. While I still lost, it was a long game and I was able to identify the flaws in my build and timing. My timing is still too slow, my builds are sloppy and I think something else may have been off.

“Something else” being, well… Not sure. Let’s just say that in a few AI games to try and practice my build after the game, I wound up losing to the AI. Yeah… to the AI.

Not sure if it was me who was off or something on my computer’s end, but I was disappointed. However, I did have a lot to take away from my first two Platinum league matches.

1.) I’m not where I need to be. I’m low-Gold, at best, right now. I know I *can* hit the timings on these builds, I just need to do it and get things down pat.

2.) Being in a league I don’t belong in is going to force me to get better. Unfortunately, I’m stuck in a situation where I don’t get to play as often as I like due to other obligations, but I still think this could be for the better.

3.) I think I need a coach… Someone who can be patient with my slow progression and willing to help me fit in as a Platinum Terran player. Of course, it helps if they have the time to train me too.

All in all, I’m glad to be in Platinum. I know that I won’t be here next season, but hopefully I can play hard enough to at least win a few games and earn a few ranks along the way. And heck, maybe I’ll get lucky when next season rolls around.

Indie StarCraft Team League Wrap-Up: ISTL Season 2 Semi-Finals...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:55:05 -0400

Indie StarCraft Team League Wrap-Up: ISTL Season 2 Semi-Finals between Western Wolves and Team NrG

Cut this video together yesterday and edited all the fancy bits. Check it out, share your thoughts, and check out the ISTL at impulseesports.com and twitch.tv/impulse!

Several questions. 1) What are you current goals for the next year in regards to your personal involvement, and company/blog involvement with esports? 2) What are your plans in regards to this blog? 3) Where would you like to see SC2 or more specifically see where Esports go in the future?

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 21:37:04 -0400

Thanks for the questions!

1.) Quite a bit on the horizon, hopefully. Personally, I’ve got some stuff I’m working on that I can’t quite talk about yet unless things go forward. As for the site, we’re looking to have GKick.net and Observer Casting start supporting more independent and smaller eSports tournaments as well as hopefully sponsoring events of our own!

2.) For the blog, I’m gonna keep it up. I’ll keep posting updates, thoughts, articles, whatever strikes my fancy. It’s more of a casual, personal thing as far as this blog goes, but I’ll definitely share some of the business relationships we build up here, too.

3.) In general, I want to see it take off. There’s clearly an audience for watching eSports in this country and I think if a network took a risk on broadcasting live eSports, you might see the audience grow even more. The right games, the right casters, the right events can really grow the product substantially.

Time to try again! I'm the Founder of GKick.net and Observer Casting, AMA!

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:58:53 -0400

Putting this out there for a second time to see if anyone who follows me on Tumblr or Twitter is interested in asking me anything. Don’t really need much in the way of proof, it’s my freakin’ blog.

I’m the “Starcraft Noob” and the founder of the GKick Network at gkick.net as well as Observer Casting. I cast StarCraft II, I’m a Platinum league Terran (tho you wouldn’t think it!) and I also operate GKickTV on Twitch.

Ask me anything!

what is your ID? for sc2 :)

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:56:18 -0400

You can find me on StarCraft at Shalthis#334

Part 19: Promotion

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:53:00 -0400

When my little “Adventures of a StarCraft 2 Noob” blog started, I was a lowly bottom-tier Bronze level player. My plan was to document how I climbed the ladder in SC2, what I learned, and how it put it into practice.

As the blog evolved, I started to share some of the “beginner tips” I thought would be useful, as well as just my thoughts on certain things in the community. I branched out into video casts and ultimately a brief webshow, the Noob Nightly. It all slowed down up until a few weeks ago when I was able to launch Observer Casting, my eSports community site.

Thanks to a hectic work schedule, an expansion of my main website (http://www.gkick.net), and a recent move, I had been unable to dedicate myself to the ladder or this blog. In fact, for the past two months, I hadn’t even played a single ladder game.

A few weeks ago, I finally decided that it was time to shape up. I got back in the game, I started playing a ton of AI matches to find my rhythm again, and I started to put my plan into practice: no frills, no filler, one build. I would do this build as much as I could and get the timings down as fast as I could and strike when my opponent was most vulnurable or at least unprepared.

With my AI matches in the bag, I finally decided now was the time. I settled in, hit the Multiplayer button, and prepared to tackle my five Placement Matches.

Oh, yeah. So, in that two months, a whole season happened. A whole season in which I didn’t play a single game. For those of who have never done this before, if you’re ranked and never play a game in a season, you need to re-place. But, whatever, I was ready. It was time. Let’s hit that Find Match button.

Game 1: TvT, feeling good. My mirror match is a big weak, but not as bad as my TvZ. I felt good, though. My timings were going smoothly, I was on a map I liked (Cloud Kingdom - nice!), and I felt good. By around 8:30, I had my Starport ready, 14 marines, 6 Marauders, and was feeling good. At 12 minutes, I had my +1/+1 and stim complete and I took my force of 24 marines, 8 Marauders and 4 Medivacs and moved. My opponent had already moved, with a few tanks, but I pushed him back and ruined much of his army. I went in, I wrecked him, and was feeling great! 1-0.

Game 2: TvZ, my weakest matchup. This was where my plan went to hell. I was prepared to use the same build, but I was also stuck on my least favorite map: Tal’darim Altar. Regardless, I went at it. Opponent was sending a few lings forward constantly, scouting me out, building up behind me, and I blew my build. I started making tanks, I delayed my attack, my timings were thrown… and I lost. I tried to fight, I tried to wait for moments to recover, but they never came. 26 minutes later, I was done. 1-1.

Game 3: TvP, my strongest matchup, on Daybreak, one of my favorite maps. Despite my poor showing in Game 2, I felt pretty good. I found my build again, I was hitting my marks mostly well despite a few timing mistakes early on. However, I was ready to push at 9:40. Even though I was being watched the whole time by my opponent’s Observer, I still felt good. I had Stim, a strong force, and pushed. I reached his base at around the 11:40 mark, waiting for a few stragglers in my army, and struck hard. I cleared out his army, took minimal losses, and ended the game. 2-1.

Game 4: TvR. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was also on Tal’darim. I had forgotten to veto it, but oh well. Press on! I went with my standard build, I finally saw my opponent was Terran (yes!) and I was prepared to execute just as I had earlier. My timings were much crisper, though gas was slightly late. My Starport was up and ready at 7 minutes, I built up my force and pushed out at 11 minutes. No aggression from my opponent got me a little nervous, but my timing was true. I struck at his main just as he was preparing for some clever play. When I attacked, I saw the multiple Starports and the Fusion Core, so I acted swiftly and took it all out. Though he though he may have had a second wind with his second base positioned awkwardly away from his main, I eventually scouted it out and ended the game at around the 16:30 mark. 3-1.

Game 5: Last match, TvP. I felt great! At this point, I figured that even if I ended at 3-2, I would at the VERY least make Silver, right? Surely. So I went ahead, same build. Three Rax, Marines, Marauders, Medivacs, Stim, maybe +1, maybe not. Either way, I would be ready. The map of choice was Entombed Valley, which wasn’t too bad. Fortunately, my early scout did precisely what I needed it to: Find my opponent. At my level, I figured that all I needed to know was WHERE my opponent was. That’s all the scouting I was prepared to do.

His chaser Probe followed my SCV back to my base, but I didn’t care. I had a marine and took it out before it could so much as even attempt to get a pylon down. I had played with the build a bit, I took my 2nd gas slightly sooner. It wasn’t wise, I was low on minerals most of the early game. So I revised, went with a 2/2 gas gathering strategy until I finally needed to go 3/3 again. Starport was late - real late. 9:20. I pushed at 13:30, way later than normal, but still feeling fine. I was relaxed, I let my guard down a bit, but I was okay.

I was at his front door by 14:30, and he was securing himself with cannons that I was quickly able to dismantle. A few Zealots and Stalkers were quickly punished and I knew I had him on the back foot. I stepped into the main, engaged his cannons there, and then I saw the Void Rays. And the Stargates. Ohhh, the Void Ray play. Interesting, but not effective at this point. I destroyed it all, took a few losses, and even though one lowly Ray tried to harass my main base, I was constantly producing units and pulled a few Marines to clean it up.

My opponent forced me to wait, tried to shoot out bases all over the map to slow me down. I stocked up my Medivacs and went scouting, found his base in the upper left (apparently, he also had one in the upper-right), but once I took it down he GG’d.

Five matches, four wins. Silver, definitely, right?

Wait… wait…

WHAT?

..WHAAAAAT?!

Yes, it’s true. Somehow, someway, some unfathomable thing has placed me into Platinum. After two months of no playing and several seasons of Bronze, I lept over both leagues like an Olympic long jumper.

And sure, my rank is 100 out of 100, so I’ll probably wind up being “auto-corrected” to high Gold the next time I play, but what the heck does this mean now?

Well, simply put, it’s time to evolve my game. The 3-Rax MMM all-in strategy won’t work very long against players at this level, and I need to learn and master builds for each race and get my timings down perfectly. This is the part where you need to be a better player to break out of Platinum.

So from this point, I’ll continue to learn and evolve my game. I still very much feel like the Starcraft Noob of name, but… well… maybe I’m not quite such a noob anymore. Maybe.

…maybe.

Wait… wait… WHAT?! WHAAAAAAT?!

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:51:15 -0400

Wait… wait… WHAT?! WHAAAAAAT?!

Streaming! Live! Tonight!

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:44:55 -0400

Hey all!

So, I need to get some practice in, sorely.

Oh, not practice playing. Practice CASTING.

So tonight, I’ve got a list of some games featuring LiquidHerO, KawaiiRice, LiquidHayprO, my buddy ViPER, and the legend himself Flash.

I should start casting at around 6:30pm EST on http://twitch.tv/gkick

Don’t miss it! It’s gonna be great times!

Oh, and do me a favor. Go check out ViPER’s awesome Zerg blog, Zergology. It’s a great resource for Zerg players!

Introducing: Observer Casting!

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 23:46:59 -0400

It’s here! The latest addition to the GKick Network, we are pleased to bring you Observer Casting, a brand new community for eSports casters, players and fans.

If you’re an aspiring, semi-pro or even professional eSports caster and want a way to network with other casters to promote your work, plug your stream, exchange tips, chat about your favorite games, and even connect with other players and fans, this is the place to do it!

Not a caster? Sign up for free today. Maybe you have a tournament you need cast? A showmatch? Post the question on our forums and we might have a caster for you!

That’s Observer Casting at http://observer.gkick.net

Spread the news! FOR ESPORTS!

Monday, June 11th: Something new this way comes…

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:43:40 -0400

Monday, June 11th: Something new this way comes…

Got a Question? Ask!

Mon, 28 May 2012 00:10:34 -0400

While life is starting to settle back down and the return of the Noob Nightly is pending (soon!), I thought I’d take this opportunity to field any questions my followers may have! Of course, you can ask me anything you’d like either about my StarCraft stuff, you can ask about anything GKick.net related (I run that site, too!) or whatever else you may want to know.

All you have to do is go to http://starcraftnoob.tumblr.com/ask and, well… ask!

If this proves popular enough, I may try and do an AMA on Reddit in the near future. But anywho, ask away!

Noob Nightly returning...?

Mon, 14 May 2012 01:28:50 -0400

Guess what, everyone? I got a webcam! You know what that means?

That means I can do the Noob Nightly again!

I mean, I could’ve always done it, but seriously. Did you want to keep seeing my poorly animated Marine avatar or do you want to see my ugly mug actually deliver the news, huh?

…well, you’re gonna get me anyway.

Yes, I have a webcam so I can now do the Noob Nightly properly. As for when I’ll be relaunching it, I’m not sure. It also might undergo a name change. “Noob Nightly”, while it fits my brand here, doesn’t really fit the show.

But we’ll see. Got any ideas? Let me know! Tweet me @GKickPerry or hit me up on Facebook http://facebook.com/asc2n

See you all soon!

It’s coming….

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:59:12 -0400

It’s coming….

Updating My StarCraft Alias

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:10:39 -0400

Hi guys!

So, still trying to get a webcam to do the show with. Might be a while off, unfortunately. But in the meantime, I wanted to announce to everyone that my handle in StarCraft is changing.

Whereas I was previously known as “Fallout”, I will now be known as “Shalthis”

My Twitch channel will remain the same - http://twitch.tv/sc2fallout

But in-game and for all intents and purposes here on out, I’ll be known as Shalthis.

Why, you may ask?

Well, I wanted a consistant handle across all gaming, and I use “Shalthis” these days way more often than I use “Fallout”. Fallout was a bit older, so I figured it was time to make a change.

So, that’s all. Just wanted to drop that on everyone. Also, I’m working on a new project and will have that info for everyone as soon as possible, so stay tuned for that!

‘Til next time…

- Shal

Noob Nightly On Hiatus; Will Return New & Improved

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:44:08 -0400

Hey all!

So I’m sure you’ve seen that it’s been a while since the Noob Nightly has posted an episode. What with PAX then my move, things have been a bit hectic. Now that I’m relatively settled in, I was considering starting the show up again.

But I had some doubts.

To be quite honest, I’ve never been happy with the “Marine Avatar” placeholder that I’ve been using the first few episodes. The few bits of video there are come too far and too few in between, meaning I’m essentially recording a podcast instead of a video show.

So, I’ve decided to put the show on an extended hiatus. The goal?

To get a webcam.

But not just any crappy webcam. I want to get at least a webcam capable of 720p. Then, and only then, will I resume production of the Noob Nightly.

Hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later, but only time will tell I guess. I appreciate everyone who has watched the show so far and I promise to keep you all posted when the show resumes ASAP.

Thanks!

Update on the Noob Nightly

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:00:55 -0400

Hey guys!

So I wanted to post a quick update on the status of the Noob Nightly. As you know, I haven’t done a show in a while because, well… busy April, suffice it to say. This past week, preparations for PAX (and PAX East itself) have kept me busy. This week? Post-PAX writeups for http://gkick.net and packing for my move (as well as moving itself) will prevent me from doing the Noob Nightly until next week.

Hopefully - HOPEFULLY - I can resume production on Sunday. Of course, that’s barring any unforseen circumstances. All I can stay is to stay tuned, don’t forget about me, and thanks for watching and reading! I appreciate your support big time!

Part 18: The Facts of GG

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:07:14 -0400

So, I know it’s been a long time since I last wrote a blog post - TOO long, in fact. Well, the Noob Nightly has been keeping me busy, and now I’m preparing to move to a new town and have PAX East approaching, so life is hectic. However, I figured I’d carve out some time to try and help dispell a myth that I see perpetuated all around the StarCraft world.

Basically, I’m here to explain “GG”, as I understand it. (and I’m pretty damn sure I’m right)

A popular expression is “No GG, no skill”. Most people also refer to a lack of GG as a lack of manners (or, you know, “BM”). However, there’s a subset of folks who feel that “GG” is only necessary when you truly feel you’ve had a GOOD game.

Forgive me for stealing a line from Dwight Schrute but…

False.

“GG” is the way two players so respect after a game, whether they feel their opponent got lucky or that they didn’t play their best or if they used “cheese” tactics. “GG” is the StarCraft equivalent of two tennis players shaking hands over the net or two sports teams lining up to tap hands after a game. We don’t have the ability to shake each other’s hand after a game, so we type “GG”.

Just like “GLHF” or any equivalent is the SC2 equivalent of boxers touching gloves or martial artists bowing before a fight, the GG is the good mannered way of saying “Whether I like it or like you or not, you beat me, game over.”

GGing is good for you and your reputation but it’s also good for competitive gaming culture. Show respect, even if you don’t like it. Make sure that the assholes are easier to spot.

“GG” doesn’t necessarily mean “You played a good game, my friend, and I respect you for it.”

It’s more “You beat me, time to move on, ‘til we meet again.”

No GG, no skill.